Success stories galore in media meet at NAARM, Hyderabad

A Media Meet under the aegis of the NAIP Sub-Project “Mobilising Mass Media Support for Sharing Agro-Information” was organized at National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), Hyherabad on 6th October 2009 for exchanging information about the ICAR technologies to the end-users through mass media.

The meet, chaired by the Director, NAARM Dr. P. K. Joshi, was well-attended by media persons both from electronic and print media and the directors/scientists of ICAR institutes located in Hyderabad. The institutes highlighted the successful adoption of their innovative technologies by end-users showing impact in fields.

Dr. V. Ranga Rao, Director, Annadata, ETV was the Guest of Honour on the occasion.

Dr. Jagdeep Saxena, project Co-PI at DIPA, ICAR, New Delhi while speaking on the occasion, briefed about the project activities and elaborated the objective with special reference to strengthening of media relations.

Highlighting the various achievements and agricultural technologies of NAARM, Joint Director Dr. N. H. Rao informed that the NAARM has been recognized as the Centre of Excellence in the area of capacity building by many international agencies. He said that NAARM has expertise in intellectual property management and HR development in ICTs and has also pioneered development in e-learning in NARS.

Dr. B. C. Viraktamath, Project Director, Directorate of Rice Research emphasized that the directorate has released over 850 rice varieties in different rice ecosystems and that Improved Samba Mahsuri (IET 19046) was developed as the first variety from Marker Assisted Selection (MAS). Cost effective nutrient management practices and eight row drum seeder were developed and popularized among farmers.

Scientists from the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) expressed that CRIDA has been providing scientific and technical assistance to farmers for enhancing production in the farms. Elucidation through case studies demonstrated the successful adoption of technologies at farms. A farmer from Amarachinta village
Shri Mareddy Krishna Reddy was able to raise his income considerably from the same mango orchard by adopting the CRIDA techniques improving mango cultivation and simultaneously using the same field for growing fodder for sheep. Another story is the successful adoption of mechanization of Castor cultivation to reduce cost.

Dr. D. M. Hedge, Project Director, Directorate of Oilseeds Research highlighted a number of farm-worthy technologies. He enlisted the hybrids of oilseeds developed. Some of these are 48-1 (Jwala), DCS-9 (Jyothi), DCH-177 (Deepak) and DCH-519 varieties of castor and DRSF-1008, DRSF-113 and DRSH-1 varieties of sunflower. The directorate has also developed effective bio-pesticides like DOR Bt-1 and DOR Tv B-16.

Dr. N. Seetharama, Director of the Directorate of Sorghum Research shed light on the various technologies developed by the Directorate. The Directorate has developed food processing technologies and health foods from Sorghum, and also Rabi sorghum production technology, foot operated roti-making machine and biofuel from sorghum. He emphasized that Sorghum is not a poor man’s crop, as regarded earlier, it’s a remunerative crop for farmers with good nutritional potential.

Dr. K. S. Varaprasad, Head of the Regional Station of NBPGR at Hyderabad highlighted the role of the station in protecting the regional and nation’s plant genetic resources from Invasive Alien Species (IAS) and its role in the exploration of plant diversity in the Eastern Ghats and the identification of potential crop lines. The station has also played a crucial role in preventing the entry of over 50 pests of quarantine significance.

Dr. R. P. Sharma, Project Director, Project Directorate on Poultry apprised the media about the various varieties of poultry developed like Vanaraja, Gramapriya, Krishi-Bro, etc. He also informed that many progressive farmers have benefited from these developments.

Dr. T. R. K. Murthy, OSD, National Research Centre on Meat informed about the various innovative technologies for meat processing and for value added meat production. Meat emulsion and processing technologies have also been developed which are economic and help in quality control.

Media persons from esteemed print and electronic mass media organizations interacted and discussed the issues with scientists to clear the doubts and gained first-hand information and also provided feedback to raise the communication quality for enhanced exchange of agricultural issues in the media.